What  the  People  Want  to  Know 

about 

Varnish  and  Varnishing 


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s 


THIRD  EDITION 
REWRITTEN 


PEOPLE'S  TEXT-BOOK 
ON  VARNISH 


NEWARK 
MURPHY  VARNISH  COMPANY 
Franklin  Murphy  President 


MURPHY  VARNISH  COMPANY 


HEAD  OFFICE  NEWARK  N  J 

Other  Offices 

BOSTON  140  Pearl  Street 

CLEVELAND  Water  and  Frankfort  Streets 

ST  LOUIS  300  South  Fourth  Street 

CHICAGO  Twenty-Second  and  Dearborn  Streets 

Factories  Newark  and  Chicago. 


Copyright  1892  by 
Murphy  Varnish  Company 


TO  THE  PEOPLE 


Not  this; 


Compre- 

We  set  down  with  great  care  in  this  short  book  all  tensive, 
we  know  about  varnish  that  people,  who  never  expect 
to  do  any  varnishing,  will  read,  remember,  and  use. 

There  is  (i)  a  great  deal  of  knowledge  that  nobody- 
wants  but  a  maker — this  exists  in  first-rate  varnish 
factories,  nowhere  else  ;  there  is  (2)  another  great 
deal  of  knowledge  that  nobody  wants  but  the  work-  northis; 
man,  the  man  with  the  brush  in  his  hand — this 
belongs  to  good  workmen  and  men  who  have  learned 
from  them  ;  there  is  (3)  still  another  great  deal  that 
employers  of  varnishers  want — this  is  business  sense  northis* 
that  comes,  sometimes  of  instruction,  sometimes  of 
experience — another  name  for  it  is  judgment  ;  another, 
intelligence  ;  another,  self-distrust  and  trust  in  trust- 
worthy men. 

No 

This  book  is  no  place  for  any  of  these  technical  technical, 
knowledges  ;  they  are  not  in  print  and  never  will  be. 
They  would  be  of  no  use  to  you. 

But  you  are  welcome  to  all  we  know  that  is  of  Popular, 
use  to  you. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2013 


http://archive.org/details/peoplestextbookoOOmurp 


VARNISH 


I— THE    VARNISH  ITSELF 
WHAT  IT  IS 

A  nothing  that  goes  on  everything,  brightens  it, 
keeps  it  clean  and  cleanable,  covers  it,  takes  the  wear, 
prolongs  its  life,  increases  its  beauty  and  usefulness — 
that  is  good  varnish. 

Varnish  that  promises  this,  and  fails  to  perform, 
goes  off  or  worse,  is  bad  varnish. 

Good  and  bad  look  alike  in  the  liquid,  or  even 
when  first  put  on,  until  the  bad  begins  to  go. 


IT  DIFFERS  FOR  DIFFERENT  USES 

The  first   thing  to   learn  about  varnish  is  that   it  0ver- 

differs,  and  ought  to  differ,  for  different  uses.    There  looked- 
are  a  great  many  kinds  and  adaptions  of  it. 

Salmon  and  fruit-cans  are  dipped  in  cheap  varnish  wide 

to   keep    them   from   rusting   for   a   few    weeks    or  differences- 
months.     Paper    book-covers,   labels   and  maps  are 
varnished   to  keep   them  clean.    Agricultural  imple- 


6 


Various     ments,   coffins,   oil-cloth,   patent  leather,  metal-work, 
uses  of  it.    bric-a-brac,  silverware,  brass,   gas-fixtures,  machinery, 
engines,    smoke-stacks,    hardware,   tools,    utensils  of 
wood  and  metal,  are  varnished  for  various  reasons. 

We  mention  these  various  uses  of  varnish  to 
show  the  extreme  diversity  of  it — varnish  is  made 
to  suit  them  all. 

It  has  also  its  nice  adaptions,  some  of  which  you 
Fine      have  got  to  respect   in  the  varnish  you  have  the  use 
differences,    and   care   of,   on  your  piano,   carriage,   house -worky 
and  furniture.    How  to  do  this  is  told  in  the  follow- 
ing pages. 

WHAT  CARE  TO  GIVE  IT  AND  WHAT 
TO  EXPECT  OF  IT 

Poor  varnish   cannot  be   kept   presentable.  Good 
How  long    varnish  lasts  according  to  care  and   exposure.  The 
does  it  last?  exposure  cannot  be  helped,   but    the  care  is  within 
control.     You  want  to  know  what   care  it  is  worth 
your  while  to   give,  and  how  long  the  varnish  will 
last  when  it  gets  this  care. 
People        But  people  differ  as  to   their  varnish  wants :  and 

differ.  r     r  ' 

they  differ  as  to  the  pains  they  are  willing  to  take 
to  secure  them. 

No  book  can   be   written  to    suit   the  standards 
Our  book    of  all  without   some   tax   on  the   reader's  judgment. 

must  serve     TT  .....  . 

them  ail.  He  must  bear  in  mind  that  one  man  wants  of 
varnish  not  much  more  than  the  saving  of  labor  in 
keeping  things  whole  and  clean  ;  that  another  wants 
to  maintain  immaculate  finish  without  regard  to  cost ; 


7 


and  that  others  want  all  grades  of  varnish  service 
between  these  extremes  of  economy  and  extravagance. 

We  must  not  surfeit  the  extravagant  man  with  econ- 
omy, nor  the  economical  man  with  extravagance. 
But  we  must  show  them  all  how  to  get  the  particular 
service  they  want  out  of  varnish.  At  the  same  time  we 
must  give  the  reader,  if  he  will  take  the  pains  to  receive 
it,  a  general  intelligence  on  the  subjects  of  varnish  and 
varnishing,  which  shall  be  his  guide  when  our  par- 
ticular precepts  are  no  longer  fresh  in  mind. 


Ride  no 
hobby. 


Practical 
knowledge, 
for  the 
owner  of 
varnished 
things. 


ON  A  CARRIAGE 


Carriage  finish  is  very  high,  and  the  wear  is  the 
hardest  wear  that  high  finish  ever  has  to  encounter. 

A  year  in  daily  use  is  as  long  as  a  carriage  ought 
to  go,  if  it  is  to  be  always  new.  In  occasional  use 
it  may  go  much  longer.  Whenever  it  shows  slight 
signs  of  wear  it  should  go  to  the  shop  to  be  put  in 
prime  condition  again. 

The  varnishing  of  a  carriage  is  a  very  delicate  job. 
A  carriage-maker  or  repairer,  if  he  be  a  man  of  fine 
notions,  can  be  relied  on  to  do  it  properly. 

No  other  trade  is  so  intelligent  in  the  use  of 
varnish,  or  so  exacting  upon  the  varnish-maker.  This 
does  not  mean  that  every  carriage-maker  does  fine 
varnishing.  Have  nothing  to  do  with  an  average 
man  in  any  matter  involving  varnish. 

There  is  in  every  city  (and  usually  in  every  village) 
a  first-rate  carriage-repairer.  A  trade  is  intelligent 
when  there  is  in  it  this  sprinkling  of  men  who  know 


Hard  wear 
on 

fine  finish. 


Read  again 
how  people 
differ. 


Re- 

vamishing. 


Most 
intelligent 
varnishing 

trade. 


What  that 
means. 


8 


Care  of 
a  carriage. 


Ammonia. 


Dust 
and  fingers. 


Mud. 


their  work  and  maintain  high  standards  in  it.    A  car- 
riage-maker who  does  fine  work  in  other  respects  is 
almost  sure  to  varnish  well.    We  wish  we  could  say 
the  same  of  all  the  varnishing  trades. 
The  proper  care  of  a  carriage  is  : 

(1)  In  the  carriage-house,  keep  the  ammonia  fumes 
from  the  stable  away  from  it.  This  is  done  by 
ventilating  stable  and  carriage-room  separately  If 
the  air  from  the  stable  gets  into  the  the  carriage-room, 
it  brings  ammonia  with  it.  If  the  two  rooms  cannot 
be  separate,  let  them  be  so  well  ventilated  that  the 
ammonia  rising  from  the  manure  and  urine  shall  not 
be  strong  enough  to  injure  the  varnish.  Varnish 
is  very  sensitive  to  it. 

(2)  In  the  carriage-house  also,  protect  it  from 
dust  and  especially  fingering.  A  white-muslin  cover 
is  best ;   and  let  it  be  washed  occasionally. 

(3)  After  every  using,  wash  the  carriage  immedi- 
ately with  flowing  water  only.  Dry  mud  never  comes 
off  entirely. 

(4)  Keep  the  carriage-house  warm  in  winter. 


ON  A  PIANO 


Very 
different. 


Finish 
the  highest, 
wear  the 
lightest 


The  varnish  on  your  piano  looks  like  that  on 
your  carriage,  but  it  is  very  different. 

Piano  finish  is  as  high  as  possible,  even  higher 
than  carriage  finish,  though  somewhat  less  susceptible 
to  injury,  finger-marks,  for  instance ;  and  the  exposure 
of  the  piano  is  almost  nothing. 


9 


Carriage  varnish  is  tough,*  to  bear  changes  of 
weather  ;  the  finishing  coat  of  a  carriage  is  too  tough 
to  be  rubbed.  Piano  varnish  is  hard,  to  bear  rub- 
bing ;  it  is  too  hard  to  be  tough  ;  the  finishing  coat 
of  a  piano  is  polished  as  bright  as  a  mirror. 

Pianos  are  varnished  as  carefully,  much  more 
laboriously,  than  carriages  ;  too  laboriously. 

Most  trades,  with  all  their  knowledge  and  skill, 
are  encumbered  with  some  traditions  that  hinder 
improvement.  Piano-varnishers  waste  an  enormous 
amount  of  labor  and  time  on  their  work  ;  but  they 
get  the  most  perfect  result  of  all  the  varnishing 
trades.  Three  months  are  required  to  put  on,  and 
dry,  and  rub,  the  dozen  coats  of  the  most  perfectly 
finished  piano. 

A  great  many  pianos  are  varnished  with  common 
stuff  ;  but  the  finish  is  always  high.  A  piano  with 
less  than  a  mirror-like  polish  would  find  an  indif- 
ferent market.  Almost  any  other  fault  would  have 
better  chance  of  escaping  detection  ;  and,  being 
detected,  would  be  regarded  with  more  indulgence. 

Pianos,  therefore,  whether  well  varnished  or  not, 
have  the  very  highest  polish  the  maker  can  give  them. 
High  polish  is  no  indication  of  the  wear  of  the 
varnish,  though  it  passes  for  that,  and  always  will 
with  the   uninformed.     Indeed  no  one  can  tell,  by 

*  "  Tough  "  or  "elastic"  means  varnish  that  dents  with  the  wood 
and  does  not  crumble  into  dust  with  a  blow  or  hard  pressure. 
"Hard"  means  varnish  that  does  not  smudge  when  rubbed  or 
polished.  The  two  are  opposites.  Varnish  cannot  be  "hard"  and 
"tough."  When  it  is  "hard"  it  is  not  "tough;"  and  when  it  is 
"tough"  it  is  not  "hard." 


Contrast. 


Extrava- 
gant work. 


Round- 
about 
methods. 


Stingy 
material. 


Polish  is  no 
indication. 


There  is 
much  in- 
struction in 
this  note. 


IO 


Depends 
on  the 
varnish. 


Care  of 
pianos. 


Dust. 


Grime. 


Re-polish- 
ing. 


How  long 
will  it  last  ? 


looking  at  it  whether  the  varnish  is  good  and  will 
wear  well  or  not. 

If  the  varnish  is  good  and  the  piano  is  properly 
cared  for,  the  finish  will  last  as  long  as  the  instru- 
ment. If  the  varnish  is  poor,  no  possible  care  can 
keep  it  clear  and  sound  for  any  length  of  time. 

The  proper  care  of  a  piano  with  regard  to  the 
varnish  is  : 

(1)  Dust  it  with  a  silk  handkerchief  lightly.  A 
feather  duster  will  dull  the  varnish  a  little  every  time 
it  touches  it. 

(2)  Wash  it  once  a  year  with  a  moist  chamois. 
This  takes  off  the  dullness  that  comes  of  dirt,  and 
seems  to  refresh  the  varnish  ;  but  every  washing 
leaves  the  polish  a  little  less  high  than  it  was  at  the 
previous  washing. 

(3)  Once  in  four  or  five  years  get  a  good  furniture- 
polisher  to  clean  and  polish  it  thoroughly.  Your 
furniture-dealer  has  such  a  man. 

If  the  varnish  was  good  to  begin  with,  it  will  last 
for  twenty  years  with  this  care  ;  but  the  finish  will 
lose  its  mirror-like  sharpness  gradually. 

If  the  varnish  was  poor,  such  care  will  get  the 
best  possible  service  from  it. 


ON  A  HOUSE-INTERIOR  AND  FURNITURE 


The 
standard  of 
finish. 


The  standard  of  finish  on  house-work  and  furni- 
ture is,  as  it  ought  to  be,  lower  than  that  on  pianos. 
The  finest  of  house-  and  furniture-varnishing  is, 
compared  with  piano-work,  dull ;  the  gloss  is  rubbed 


II 


off  ;  the  rubbing  is  carried  to  the  extent  of  smooth- 
ness, but  not  to  the  extent  of  a  high  polish.  You  see  fine°n  ^rk. 
the  wood  as  if  it  were  under  glass.  The  color  and  grain 
are  conspicuous  ;  not  obscured  by  excessive  reflection. 
Mirror-like  brightness  belongs  to  piano-varnishing ; 
plate-glass  smoothness*  is  all  that  the  finest  of  house- 
and  furniture-work  is  permitted  to  aspire  to. 

The   cheapest  proper  house-  and  furniture-work  is     Qn  com 
left    bright,  not    rubbed  at   all.     In   medium   work,    mon  work- 
the    surface  is   rubbed  just  enough   to  diminish  the 
gloss. 

The  rubbing,  if  much  of  it  is  done,  costs  more  Hqw  to 
than   all    the    rest   of   the   work    and    the    varnish  economize 

on  it. 

besides,  and  it  does  not  affect  the  wear  of  var- 
nish ;  so  the  proper  way  to  economize  is  to 
omit  or  diminish  the  rubbing.  But,  if  the  rubbing 
is  either  not  done  or  economized  on,  the  fact  is 
immediately  apparent ;  and  a  saving  of  cost  in  the 
varnish  itself  is  not  immediately  apparent.  The  How  not  to 
saving,  therefore,  is  almost  always  practiced  where  it  €c°onit.ze 
is  disastrous  after  a  little,  rather  than  where  it 
shows  immediately. 


*Some  of  the  most  beautiful  woods  are  so  rough  in  grain  that  Filling, 
they  cannot  be  worked  to  a  smooth  and  even  surface  with  any 
amount  of  sand-papering;  oak,  for  an  extreme  example:  walnut  is 
less  extreme.  All  woods  are  covered  with  hollows;  smooth  woods 
[cherry  and  maple  are  smooth]  with  innumerable  microscopic 
hollows,  and  rough  ones  with  rough  irregular  groves.  All  such 
depresssons  have  to  be  filled  before  varnishing ;  or,  when  the  varnish 
is  on,  the  surface  will  be  as  rough  as  the  wood,  conspicuously  un- 
plate-glass-like.  No  wood  is  smooth  enough  to  varnish  without  this 
filling;  which  is  and  remains,  of  course,  transparent  and  invisible. 


12 


judge  a  Whether  work  is  slighted  or  not  depends  on  the 

notTythe  circumstances    under    which    it    is   done;    and  the 

bykthe  cir-  varnish  is  so  small  a  part  of  the  thing  that  it  gets 

CUundaenrCes  overlooked,  or,  what  is  more  likely,  taken  for  granted  ; 

which  it  ^  is  one  0f  the  most  seductive  of  all  the  selling-devices 

was  done.  ° 

of  man. 

A   furniture-maker  who   makes   upon  honor,  if  he 
Examples,    happens  to  be  intelligent  on  it,  uses  durable  varnish ; 

whether  fine  or  not  depends  on  whether  his  work  is 
fine.    A  house  gets  varnished  right,  if  the  owner  or 
architect   orders   it   right,  and   then   watches   to  see 
that  it  is  done  right. 
Good  work      You  see  how  rare  the  most  durable  varnish  must 

is  very  rare. 

be  on  house-work  and  furniture. 

It  is   only   within   a   year  or  two   that  architects 

How  to  get  have   begun    to    give    the    proper    attention    to  it. 

They  used  to  allow  the  builder  to  use  whatever  he 
chose  to  furnish.  The  first  sign  of  varnish-careful- 
ness on  the  part  of  architects  was  their  specifying 
what  make  of  varnish  the  painter  should  use  ;  but 
that  is  useless — all  makers  make  different  kinds  ; 
and  a  varnish  right  for  one  use  may  not  be  right  for 
another.  Now  they  are  finding  out  what  particular 
varnish  is  right  for  their  work  and  specifying  it. 

How  not  to      But,  of  course,  most  houses  are  varnished  without 
getlt*      supervision  by  architects.    Painters  buy  whatever  they 
are  willing  to  pay  for  ;  and  the  result  is  a  little  saving 
on   the  varnish  itself  and  very  great  waste  on  the 
property. 

The  rule.       it  may  be  taken  for  granted  that  a  house  is  badly 
varnished,  unless  it  was  built  by   an   architect  who 


13 


compelled  the  builder  to  force  the  painter  to  use  the 
proper  varnish,  and  then  the  architect  watched  while 
the  work  was  going  on,  and  saw  that  his  specifications 
were  carried  out. 

The  practice  in  varnishing  furniture  is  somewhat 
better.  There  is  no  compulsion  upon  the  furniture- 
maker  but  an  enlightened  self-interest.  That  is  enough  ; 
but  not  every  one  feels  it. 

Furniture-makers,  house-builders,  and  painters  be- 
long to  the  less  intelligent  varnishing  trades.  They 
resist  fine  varnish  as  if  it  were  not  an  ally  but  an 
enemy. 

First-rate  varnish  for  house-work  (the  varnish  itself) 
is  not  so  fine  as  that  for  pianos  and  carriages ;  it  is 
as  durable.  Furniture  varnish  can  be  as  fine  as  any. 
The  putting  on  has  less  to  do  with  the  wear  and  care. 

If  the  varnish  itself  is  good,  it  will  last  for  twenty 
years,  more  or  less,  according  to  how  it  is  cared  for. 

If  the  varnish  is  poor,  it  may  rust  in  a  month  or  a  year, 
or  go  off  gradually  in  two  or  three  years  and  leave  the 
wood  bare  and  dull  if  not  sticky.  It  cannot  be  saved 
by  any  care  you  can  give  it. 

Varnish  that  fails  wastes  more  than  itself  and  the 
work  expended  on  it.  One  does  not  tear  a  house 
down  because  the  varnish  is  not  quite  clear ;  but  the 
house  is  shabby-genteel ;  and,  if  not  restored  betimes, 
it  sooner  or  later  comes  to  the  fate  of  the  shabby- 
genteel.  The  property  in  it  is  gone.  There  is  too 
much  of  the  shabby-genteel  in  this  country. 

The  proper  care  of  varnish  on  house-work  and 
furniture  is : 


Has  to  be 
guarded 
at  evety 
stage. 


Furniture. 


Less 
intelligent 
varnishing 
trades. 


Limita- 
tions. 


How  long 
will    it  last: 


Shabby- 
genteel. 


14 

'rfk       Wash  it  occasionally  wil 
fumitie.    not)  5  and  once  m  a  Year  or  two  ruD  it  with  furniture- 


housework       Wash  it  occasionally  with  soap  and  tepid  water  (not 


polish. 


* 


II- HOW    TO     GET    GOOD     VARNISH  WHEN 
B  U  YING    VARNISHED  THINGS 

HOW  TO  GET  IT  ON  CARRIAGES 

Carriage-  .  .  , 

work  com-       The  varnishing  done  by  carnage  makers  is,  on  the 

paratively 

systematic,   whole,  of  a  higher  grade  than  that  of  any  other  trade  ; 

for  these  reasons  :  (i)  The  sale  of  a  carriage  depends 
very  much  on  the  finish — this  secures  high  finish, 
whether  the  varnish  is  good  or  not ;  (2)  the  wear  on 
carriage  varnish  is  very  hard — this  secures  the  use  of 
durable  varnish,  at  least  by  makers  who  make  for 
wear  ;  (3)  the  general  intelligence  of  carriage-makers 
with  regard  to  varnish  is  higher  than  that  of  any  other 
trade — they  avoid  mistakes  pretty  generally  ;  (4)  their 
work  comes  back  for  repairs,  they  are  held  responsible 
for  it — this  is  one  of  the  strongest  reasons  for  making 
it  good  ;  (5)  people  are  better  judges  of  carriage-work 
than  of  most  manufactures — tends  to  keep  up  quality ; 
(6)   carriage-makers   are   known,   and  their   work  is 

"Furniture-polish  (which  you  get  at  your  drug-store)  requires  no 
tools,  not  even  a  brush,  and  no  skill.  You  rub  it  on  with  a  bit  of 
canton  flannel,  and  rub  till  dry. 

It  puts  new  life  in  the  varnish,  and  keeps  it  fresh  in  appearance  and 
fresh  in  its  hold  on  the  wood.  But  it  is  not  varnish,  and  it  does  not 
take  the  place  of  varnish ;  it  does  not  fill  up  scratches.  It  only 
enlivens,  apparently  brings  to  life,  prolongs  the  life  of,  varnish.  Do 
not  rely  on  furniture-polish  when  the  varnish  is  gone. 


*5 


known  where  their  work  is  sold — it  is  easy  to  learn 
their  grade  and  the  grade  of  their  work  by  inquiry — 
this  keeps  them  to  quality. 

It  is  easy  to  see  that  no  one  need  buy  a  poor  carriage 
for  want  of  the  means  of  judgment  ;  and  no  one  there- 
fore, need  get  poor  varnish  on  it. 

There  is,  however,  a  market  for  buggies  and  sleighs 
and  carriges  all  the  way  down  to  impossible  prices — 
all  varnished — and  there  is  a  market  for  varnish  to 
give  them  all  the  selling  shine  that  attracts  your  money. 

You  want  a  wearing  shine.  You  must  buy  of  a 
maker  whose  work  is  made  to  wear.  And  ask  him 
about  his  varnish.  The  intelligent  buyer  gets  well 
served,  if  he  makes  the  proper  use  of  his  intelligence. 

If  you  would  rather  pay  a  little  more  and  get  good 
varnish  instead  of  a  sham,  pay  another  little  more  and 
get  tough  spokes  in  your  wheels  instead  of  brittle. 
Good  varnish  and  other  carriage-work  are  not  to  be 
got  without  judgment  and  money. 


Good  car- 
riage, good 
varnish. 


Poor  car- 
riage, poor 
varnish. 


Talk  about 
it. 


Pay  for  it 
and  look  out 


for  it. 


HOW  TO  GET  IT  ON  PIANOS 


There  is  a  great  deal  of  mystery  in  the  piano.  It 
does  not  belong  to  us  to  unravel  it  all.  So  far  as 
varnish  is  concerned,  the  piano  is  simply  a  piece  of 
cabinet-work.  It  is  fine  or  fine  looking — all  pianos 
are  one  or  the  other. 

They  are  generally  well  varnished.  The  finish  is  so 
very  high  as  to  be  exceedingly  delicate.  Steel  is  not 
delicate  ;  the  edge  of  a  razor  is.  There  is  nothing  else 
in  the  house  that  requires  such   dainty  handling  to 


No  more 
mystery  in 
it  than  in 
any  other 

cabinet- 
work. 


The  finish 
is  delicate. 


i6 


keep  it  immaculate.    People  do  not  know  how  frail  it 
is — this  highly  polished  surface  of  varnish  on  the  piano 
— they  do  not  give  it  the  care  that  befits  its  delicacy. 
toFbeUrduePto      The  failure  of  varnish  on  a  piano  is,  therefore,  much 
Wcanre°f     more  likely  to  be  due  to  some  fault  in  the  care  than  to 

the  varnish  itself  or  the  varnishing. 
Fraudu-        On  the  other  hand  there  are  enormous  numbers  of 

lent,  varnish 

and  aii.  pianos  so  utterly  bad  that,  if  we  should  describe  them 
literally,  you  would  think  they  could  hardly  hold 
together  long  enough  to  get  from  the  shop  to  the  home. 
The  first  piano  a  family  buys  is  apt  to  be  one  of  these 
counterfeits.  It  would  be  a  waste  of  virtue  to  put 
good  varnish  on  them.  It  is  wholesome  to  bear  in 
mind  how  many  people  there  are  among  our  sixty- 
five  millions  who  keep  themselves  poor  by  believing 
impossible  tales  and  buying  impossible  things. 

Payan°dr  h       Your  dealer  keeps  several   makes   of   pianos  ;  one 

look  out  for  first-class  ;  one  less  well-known  ;  another  still  less,  or 
it.  '  '  ' 

known  less   favorably  ;   another — but  why  go  further 

down  ?      Risk   nothing    below    the    second-best — we 

cannot  all  have  best.    A  piano  made  to  cheat  with,  of 

course,  has   the   selling  shine ;  but  no  one  makes  a 

piano  for  honest  business  without  the  wearing  shine. 

^*         To  get  good  varnish  on  your  piano,  then,  get  a 

decent  piano. 

HOW  TO  GET  IT  ON  HOUSE-INTERIORS 
Talk  with       if  you  are  building  a  house  and  employ  an  architect, 

him.  •  ,  i  i 

your  part  is  easy  ;  but  you  have  got  to  attend  to  it. 

Do  not  take  for  granted  that  he  will  attend  to  the 
varnish  and  varnishing  adequately.      The  probability 


is  that  he  does  not  know  very  much  about  either.  ^eveesthJ{ten. 
Architects  are  just  beginning  to  learn  that  they  ought  tlon  t0  lt 
to  know  about  varnish.  How  shall  they  find  it  out  ? 
They  go  to  their  books  and  get  nothing  ;  they  turn  to 
the  cyclopedias — nothing  ;  libraries — nothing.  Their 
technical  journals  contain  about  all  there  is  in  print 
that  is  useful  to  them  ;  and  this  we  ourselves  provide.* 

The  more  discerning  and  independent-minded  men  Heh™v£not 
among  architects  see  how  important  these  instructions  thought  of 
are,  if  true  ;  and  they  test  and  apply  them.  But  it  takes 
some  time  for  knowledge  to  get  about,  especially  when 
it  comes  from  an  unexpected  source.  The  usual  course 
is  for  knowledge  to  come  from  schools  and  get  into 
professions,  then  into  factories.  Schools  know  nothing 
of  varnish. 

The  architect's  business  is  to  seek  and  secure  the  His  dutZ  t0 

serve  the 

owner's  interest.  The  standard  of  honor  is,  doubtless,  owner- 
as  high  among  architects  as  that  of  any  profession. 
He  must  inform  himself  on  materials,  methods,  styles, 
devices.  This  alone  is  an  enormous  and  never-ending 
task  outside  of  his  business.  Something  had  to  come 
last  ;  it  was  varnish.  Construction,  of  course,  is  more 
urgent  than  finish. 

*  We  have  a  series  of  papers  on  varnish  and  varnish-work  in  the 
architects'  weekly  journals,  which  began  in  1889  and  has  now  reached 
No.  150.  In  these  papers  we:  (1)  exhort  architects  to  recognize  the 
importance  of  varnish  to  their  work ;  (2)  set  up  standards  of  varnish 
and  work ;  and  (3)  try  to  teach  the  architects  how  to  enforce  these 
standards  on  contractors  and  workmen. 

These  papers  are  advertisements,  just  as  this  book  is  an  advertise- 
ment. In  our  opinion,  the  setting  up  of  knowledge  where  ignorance 
has  prevailed  is  the  best  of  all  advertisements  for  a  business  founded 
on  knowledge  and  conducted  with  knowledge. 


i8 


Contrac- 
tor's duty 
not  to  serve 
the  owner. 


Painters 
slippery. 


Look  to 

your 
architect. 


Risky. 


Not  an 
adequate 
substitute 

for  an 
architect. 


Economical 
job. 


The  contractor's  business  is  to  go  by  the  specifica- 
tions— no  more,  no  less — he  has  to  be  watched  to  see 
that  he  does  it. 

There  is  another  obstacle.  House-painters  do  the 
work.  No  trade  is  more  accustomed  to  substitutes 
and  shams  ;  no  trade  is  less  accustomed  to  being  held 
responsible  ;  few  are  less  intelligent  on  their  work  ; 
and  the  painter's  business  is  to  cover  his  tracks — he 
has  to  be  watched. 

Your  part  is  to  see  that  your  architect  shares  the 
rising  appreciation  of  varnish,  and  is  not  dazed  by  the 
glory  of  it  when  new,  but  awake  to  the  permanent  ser- 
vice it  can  render  if  good,  and  to  the  difficulties  he  has 
got  to  encounter  in  getting  that  service  out  of  it. 

If  you  are  building  a  house  and  not  employing  an 
architect,  you  intend,  of  course,  a  more  economical 
job.  You  have  got  to  depend  on  your  painter  to 
some  extent  ;  but  you  can  check  him  somewhat  by 
our  Directions  for  Using  Transparent  Wood  Finish,  to 
which  you  are  welcome. 

The  aim  of  this  book  is  to  tell  you  your  part,  not  to 
teach  you  details  of  your  varnisher's  work — you 
cannot  become  an  expert  in  varnishing,  nor  even  a 
confident  critic  on  it,  by  reading.  The  most  you  can 
do  is  to  learn  enough  of  the  general  principles  of  it  to 
enable  you  to  understand  your  varnisher  and  to  see 
that  he  does  his  work  according  to  those  directions. 

We  ought,  however,  to  state  clearly,  what  we  have 
implied  on  another  page,  that  an  economical  varnish 
job  can  be  durable,  if  the  economy  is  put  on  the  work 
and  not  on  the  varnish.    What  we  mean  is  precisely 


19 


this  : — The  proper  varnish  for  interior  house-work 
costs  $2.50  a  gallon  ;  for  the  front-door,  etc.,  $4.  The 
custom  of  painters  is  to  pay  about  $1.25.  This 
saving  (or  cheating,  whichever  it  may  be)  will  waste 
the  whole  job  and  a  great  deal  more.  Allow  no  saving 
on  varnish.  Save  on  the  work  as  much  as  you  like  ; 
rub  little  or  not  at  all.  The  varnish  itself  determines 
the  wear  ;  the  rubbing  has  nothing  to  do  with  it. 
Rubbing  costs  a  great  deal  more  than  the  varnish  ;  put 
your  economy  all  on  the  rubbing. 

The  painter  advises  the  opposite  way.  He  is  used 
to  cheap  varnish  at  90  cents  to  $1.25  a  gallon,  and 
probably  thinks  it  "  good  enough  for  house-work."  If 
you  direct  him  to  get  Transparent  Wood  Finish  and 
do  not  watch  him,  he  will  probably  use  his  favorite 
"  hard  oil  finish,"  charge  you  the  higher  price,  and 
pocket  the  difference.  Ignorant  painters  hate  fine 
varnish  as  the  devil  hates  holy  water. 

See  that  your  painter  has  favorable  circumstances  : 
clean  and  dry  wood-work  for  a  full  day  before  he 
begins  ;  as  little  dust  as  possible  ;  drafts  cut  off ;  venti- 
lation ;  and  time.  If  you  make  good  work  impossible, 
do  not  complain  of  results. 

If  you  are  revarnishing. — There  is  an  enormous 
amount  of  this  troublesome  work  to  be  done.  Most  of 
the  varnishing  done  hitherto  has  been  done  with  an 
inferior  varnish  and  ought  to  be  done  over.  It  is  in 
all  ways  and  stages  of  "  going  off."  If  it  would  really 
go  off,  disappear,  it  would  be  less  troublesome  No  ; 
it  loses  its  usefulness  and  beauty,  but  sticks  ;  you  find 
how  it  sticks  when  you  try  to  get  it  off. 


-Allow  no 
saving  on 
the  varnish. 


Put  your 
economy . 
on  the 
rubbing. 


Beecher's 
recipe  for 
good  coffee: 
Go  to  all  the 

principal 
hotels  and 
make  it  as 
they  don't. 


Favorable 
circumstan- 
ces. 


Revarnish- 
ing house- 
work. 


20 


Much  of  this  old  varnish  will  never  get  renewed — if 
not,  it  has  ruined  the  houses — but  much  of  it  will  be. 
We  must  tell  you  how  to  go  at  the  job.  We  take  for 
granted  that  you  have  had  enough  of  wasteful  economy, 
and  that  now  you  propose  to  have  a  good  job. 

The  first  thing  to  do  is  to  clear  the  house,  take  out 
carpets  and  furniture.  Go  over  the  whole  of  the  wood- 
work, repairing  whatever  needs  repairing.  Scrape 
the  varnish  off  till  you  get  to  the  wood,  being  careful 
of  corners  and  edges  on  moldings.  Do  not  put  good 
varnish  on  top  of  poor  varnish  ;  both  will  be  poor  if 
you  do.    Give  the  new  a  hold  on  the  wood  direct. 

If  you  give  the  job  to  faithful  and  competent  men,  or 
have  a  varnish-wise  architect  superintend  the  work, 
you  will  be  well  paid  for  the  cost  and  trouble.  But  you 
will  get  a  new  view  of  the  saving  of  money  on  varnish  ! 

Varnish  over  graining  or  plain  paint. — Let  the  paint 
be  clean  ;  and,  if  it  needs  retouching,  retouch  it  before 
the  varnish  goes  on.  One  coat  of  varnish  is  better 
than  none  ;  and  two  are  enough.  The  object  of 
varnish  on  grained  or  other  paint  is  to  save  nine-tenths 
of  the  labor  of  keeping  it  clean  ;  and,  of  course,  for 
beauty. 

Whatever  sort  of  a  job  you  have  in  house-work,  use 
Transparent  Wood  Finish,  Interior  and  Exterior  ;  the 
latter  for  the  front  door  and  any  other  part  exposed  to 
sun  and  dust.  The  Interior  lasts  as  long  as  you  are 
likely  to  care  to  have  it  last.  The  Exterior  lasts  about 
a  year — a  year  is  as  long  as  you  can  expect  it  to  last 
if  exposed  to  the  sun.  The  price  of  having  your  out- 
side door  presentable  is  to  varnish  it  once  a  year. 


2  I 


HOW  TO  GET  IT  ON  FURNITURE 

You  buy  of  a  dealer,  not  of  the  maker  ;  you  do  not 
know  the  maker  :   you  do  not  even  know  who  he  is.   .  Precise 

7     ■*  information 

The  dealer  may  or  may  not  know  the  quality  of  the  difficult, 
varnish  on  his  furniture.  There  are  difficulties  in  the 
way  of  your  getting  precise  information.  But  furni- 
ture-making is  one  of  the  great  American  industries. 
It  engages  some  of  the  most  capable  men  in  business. 
Their  factories  are  managed  for  profit  and  with  keen 
eyes  on  the  public  demand.  The  aggregare  cost  per 
year  of  varnish,  including  the  putting  it  on,  in  the 
great  factories,  is  too  much  to  be  slighted.  Their 
work  is  done  by  system  and  with  intelligence. 

Every  one  of  these  factories  makes  a  great  deal 
of  furniture,  such  as  the  bulk  of  people  want —  ThefaftneraI 
extravagant — that  is  exactly  the  word  for  it — furni- 
ture made  to  suit  the  taste  of  our  most  extravagant 
people,  our  prosperous  common  people.  Extravagant 
people  are  people  who  go  beyond  their  means.  They 
have  got  to  economize  somewhere  ;  they  try  to  put 
their  economies  where  they  will  not  be  too  conspicu- 
ous ;  not  in  design  or  finish. 

Modern  American  furniture — modern  means  within 
a  year  or  two — would  be  a  wonder  at  the  Columbus  lik^h^ever 
Show,  if  we  were  not  so  familiar  with  it.  seenworWi 

This    great    industry    does    not    varnish    50-cent  before' 
kitchen  chairs  as  it  varnishes  $50  parlor  chairs,  and 
it  does  not  varnish  things  to  be  used  as  it  varnishes 
things  to  be  looked  at. 


22 


Luxurious       On  the  other  hand  there  are  small  makers-to-order 

makers  do 

^not  spoil  who  do  luxurious  work  for  the  rich — design  and  make 
with  poor  a  table  or  writing-desk,  chair  or  sofa,  side-board  or 
cabinet,  easel  or  book-case,  bed-room  suite,  or  whole 
outfit — they  make  it  unique  and  to  suit  a  particular 
want  or  notion.  They  get  a  thousand  dollars  for  what 
the  great  factory  sells  for  a  hundred — except — the 
machine-made  factory  product  is  common  and  theirs 
is  unique. 

We  make  for  the  maker-to-order  a  series  of  var- 
nishes, one  for  light  woods,  another  for  dark,  etc., 
etc.,  with  all  the  refinements  of  fineness  in  them. 
isGJe?tingr^o  lt  is  gettinS  t0  be  tlie  fact  tnat  furniture  is  varnished 
vanished  we^  or  ^  according  to  whom  and  what  use  it  is  made 
for.  The  best  you  can  do  is  to  go  by  that ;  avoid  the 
over-showy  and  choose  with  your  severest  taste. 


Ill— WE  HAVE  COMMON  INTEREST  WITH  YOU 


VARNISH-INTELLIGENCE 


General  The  trouble  is  lack  of  intelligence  on  the  subject, 
knowledge.  Dotn  among  those  that  direct  the  work  and  those  that 
do  it.  They  imagine  they  know  ;  but  what  they 
"  know  "  is  mostly  wrong.  As  Josh  Billings  says.  "  It 
is  better  not  to  know  so  many  things  that  ain't  so." 
The  workmen  especially  slight  and  bedevil  it.  Archi- 
tects are  supposed  to  know  about  building  materials. 
Here  is  an  important  building-material ;  they  are 
beginning  to  give  a  litte  attention  to  it.  Builders  do 
not  care.    And  owners  give  no  thought  to  it. 


23 


The  remedy  is  the  same  as  for  almost  all  our  defects  : 
intelligence  :  varnish-intelligence. 

We  are  a  well-dressed  people.  We  are  not  experts 
in  silk  and  wool,  dress-making  and  tailoring  ;  but  we 
know  good  clothes  and  how  to  get  them.  That  is 
clothing-intelligence. 

What  we  want  is  varnish-intelligence.  Not  to  be 
experts  in  making  or  putting  it  on  with  the  brush  ; 
but  to  know  a  good  job  when  we  see  it,  and  how  to 
get  it.    That  is  varnish  intelligence. 


The 

remedy : 
knowledge. 


Just  what 
we  mean. 


It  is 
practicable. 


WHY  WE  PUBLISH  THIS  BOOK 

Our  dealing  is  chiefly  with  first-class  makers  of  var- 
nished things,  such  as  cars,  carriages,  musical  instru-   Our  trade, 
ments,  furniture,  cabinet-work,  etc.  ;  with  a  few  of  the 
stores  also. 

We  seek  whatever  trade  requires  fine  varnish  ;  but, 
having  larger  facilities  than  we  can  keep  employed  on  0urpollcy- 
fine  varnish  alone,  we  make  a  good  deal  of  lower 
grades.  We  can  make  the  finest  of  varnish  at  lower 
prices  than  we  could  otherwise  afford,  because  of  this 
part-occupation  with  lower  grades  ;  but  we  systematic- 
ally discourage  the  use  of  poor  varnish.  We  put  all 
stress  on  quality.  One  cent  saved  on  the  varnish,  if 
at  the  cost  of  quality,  is  a  dollar  lost  on  the  varnished 
thing. 

Our  way  is  to  adapt  a  varnish  to  its  use,  to  make  m^hod. 
it  as  good  as  we  can  for  its  use,  the  very  best  we 
can  ;  and,   in  fixing   the  price,  we  consult  nobody. 
The  thin  end  of  our  wedge  is  quality. 


24 


Prices. 


Varnish- 
buyers. 


Varnish- 
makers. 


Our  object 
and  means. 


There  is  an  enormous  demand  for  varnish  at  prices 
a  little  below  ours.  If  we  should  put  our  prices  down, 
the  demand  and  supply  would  go  down  just  about  so 
much.  There  is  nothing  to  value  varnish  by  but  the 
price  of  the  best  ;  the  other  makers  make  "  as  good 
as  Murphy's  "  for  fifty  cents  or  a  dollar  less  a  gallon. 

Most  of  the  users  of  varnish  buy  by  price  ;  some  try 
to  combine  a  little  saving  with  quality  ;  some  are  so 
glad  to  get  the  best  possible  varnish,  they  have  no  dis- 
position to  haggle  over  the  cost  of  it. 

Most  of  the  makers  of  varnish  make  for  the  price- 
market  ;  some  are  beginning  to  think  about  quality  ; 
a  few  are  actually  competing  with  us  almost  on  our 
own  ground. 

Our  purpose  is  to  increase  the  use  of  good  varnish 
— we  take  our  chances  of  the  making — our  means,  to 
increase  the  knowledge  of  what  good  varnish  does. 

We  address  ourselves  to  those  most  nearly  con- 
cerned, the  enjoyers  of  it,  even  though  you  cannot 
be  our  customers.    Hence  this  book. 


